Henry: Portrait of a serial Killer - This is not a pleasant film. At all. In fact, there is one scene that will now haunt me forever, and makes me wish I hadn't watched it. Anyone with children will know what scene I'm talking about. Still, despite the brutality, it truly is very effective. You wonder what the hell could be driving this guy, and then his accomplice, to do what he does. You truly have to have something wrong in the head. To be so cold and calculating , with zero remorse. It's mind-boggling. We do get a small glimpse of where things went wrong, when he opens up to Otis's sister Becky. Poor, confused, lonely, Becky, who is actually attracted to this guy for no discernible reason. that we see in the film. This is most definitely not for everyone. It's a minimalist, non-glossy, yet very effective, approach to what goes on in the mind of a mad man. For that I give it proper due. Not one to be mistaken for a typical slasher film watched on Saturday night.

I managed to convince some friends to watch the Spanish horror, The Orphanage. I had already watched it before and loved it, even though I consider it more of a drama than a horror movie. I actually think it was better the second time around.

Code:

My favourite part of the rewatch had to be the banging on the walls during the night.

They really liked it so I am thinking of showing Pan's Labyrinth, probably my favourite Spanish movie next. Every Spanish movie I have watched so far has been a treat. Admittedly it has only been three, Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage and REC.

Exact same thing like in the Last of Us thread. Everyone will (and has, it seems) see Pacific Rim and because of school I won't till it's already off the "hot/cool" list. D:Then I'll waltz into this thread all PUMPED and jazzed and no one to talk to but a lone tumbleweed as it blows by.

Evil Dead 2013. Not as fun as the original. Quite the opposite actually but the sheer level of brutality was great. I liked it a lot:)

Just watched this the other night and dare I say I liked it better than the original. I didn't think it was scary but I did cringe from the brutality of some of the scenes. Army of Darkness is the best movie of the lot still.

Evil Dead 2013. Not as fun as the original. Quite the opposite actually but the sheer level of brutality was great. I liked it a lot:)

Just watched this the other night and dare I say I liked it better than the original. I didn't think it was scary but I did cringe from the brutality of some of the scenes. Army of Darkness is the best movie of the lot still.

Groovy.

I was at NY Comic Con a couple years ago, and I almost toppled into Bruce Campbell. I was at a point where he was one of my favorite actors, but upon seeing him I kinda choked and pulled the nerd move of the day, shouting OH MY GOD IT'S BRUCE CAMPBELL. He replied (and killed what little childhood I had left) 30 bucks'll get you an autograph kid. Once the startruckedness faded...yeah I felt a little dead inside. I do still enjoy his stuff, but yeah...

Speaking of Army of Darkness, watched that a couple days ago. Really is just hilarious and awesome.

The Conjuring - This was a very well made horror movie that forgoes flash for substance. It's a slow burn of a movie, but the payoff is well-developed characters, and perfectly set mood. It DOES follow the classic style almost to the letter, with very little surprises. A family moves into an old house, and then house(and it's past denizens) isn't so happy about it. Scares ensue. So why is it so effective? I give a lot of credit to the acting duo of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the warrens. They do a fantastic job. The always reliable Lily Taylor does a great job with her very demanding role as well. I also really liked how it was shot. Clever camera angles, and some unique perspectives really helped set the atmosphere. A perfectly brooding soundtrack, albeit bit overly packed with music cues, tops off the creepy mood. I wouldn't call it anything revolutionary. If your a fan of horror movies, you've pretty much seen it all. And yet it works. Very well, in fact. A perfect case of the individual parts adding up to more than the whole.

Decided to follow up MI3 with MI-Ghost Protocol, since I've never seen that one before, either.

The wife and I enjoyed it. The typical MI formula of espionage with over the top action is here. This one seemed to focus a bit more on the former, and it's done really well. However, the sweet, sweet action is still here. For instance, the scene with Tom/Ethan scaling the Burj Khalifa is exciting and excellently nerve-wracking. One thing I noticed, and liked, was that there is also a good bit of humor injected into the mix. Especially compared to the previous films in the series. There is also a stronger focus on the team aspect, not centering around Ethan as much as before.

Tom still looks fantastic for his age, but you can tell he is getting older. Still, he plays the part of Ethan just as well as before. Still running around like crazy (although I have to say the scene of him running from the blast of a certain important Russian building is unintentionally hilarious in its execution). It was nice to see Simon Pegg have a bigger role in this one. I love that dude. I also really like Jeremy Renner, and of course he was a good addition here, as he pretty much is to any movie. The scene with him working up the courage to jump down a shaft/duct is damn funny. I was sorry to see Ving Rhames was reduced to a cameo (albeit a good one), but that's just how it is, I guess...

There's not much more to say that I didn't say in the MI3 review. Don't get me wrong, this entry is not more of the exact same. This film had a different director (Brad Bird, I believe), so there is a bit of a different feel to it. The circumstances the team is operating under are quite a bit different than the previous films, as well. More than enough going on to keep it feeling fresh. As far as having a favorite in the series, I'd easily say it's a toss up between this one and MI3. As I said before, if you enjoyed the previous films, you will like this one.